and, good morning!

Here we are, all decorated for Christmas, and it's warm out!  60 degrees!  It seems downright silly to have a tree up, and all the lights and sparkly things out, it's like Christmas in Florida!  I know, I know, enjoy it, because it certainly won't last.

Yesterday, I picked Miss Charlotte Claire up from school just a tiny bit early, so I could take her with Camille, out and about.  They actually didn't get anything from Starbucks, because shh, I took them to McDonalds.  Cam would rather have the half sweet iced tea with lemon from the dollar menu, anyway.  They were heading to help Abigail do some cleaning/maintenance at church cabins, so I thought I'd treat them to a nice dinner...I mean, they LOVE that stuff...McChickens, nuggets...I did have a McDouble with no ketchup or mustard, and I skipped the bun.  But my real dinner was at home, taco salad...

Anyway, the morning was lovely.  I went outside with Char while she waited for the bus...

Someone did leave muddy sneakers on that table...

This next week will be nice, Charlotte has the whole week off from school, and Samuel and Grace and little Grant and Ruth Eleanor will be coming to stay with us, for Thanksgiving!  I vacuumed the guest room yesterday, and took all the bedding off, am in the process of washing it all, so we can make it warm and cozy for them.  I realized as I was in there yesterday that if/when they move to New York in the spring time, they won't be staying with us anymore, so it's really a finite thing.  (Unless they move in here until they can find a place, or something like that ha.).  I decided to really treasure getting the room ready, with an attitude to bless, because we all know how it's in us to grumble about everything.  

When they stay with us, the mornings spent with coffee and around- the- house clothes, being in no particular hurry, the coziness, it IS precious. 

Life, as we know, is not all sunshine and roses.  Things happen, and our faith is tested.  If you read my blog and think:  dang she has an easy life!, well, that's  because it's not always my story to tell.  I have 16 kids, so believe me, there's always one or another who has something going on, but far be it from me to blast their business on my blog...don't get me wrong, they're good kids, there's not awful stuff, but sometimes their trials effect me.  There are huge financial trials we've had, which I'll not get into here, and we've learned from them, and are working on so many aspects of how we've been affected, but again, I can't really write about it all.  

But shh, I do have a good life, I really do.  I am super thankful for my days here on earth and I am really working on using my time in a good way.  

Oh, Suri is much much better.  The tumor has seemed to effect her movement a bit, but not drastically.  I just hope it doesn't grow anymore.  At this point, the vet isn't inclined to remove it, but if it continues to grown and impede movement, it might be a necessity, but I am not going to worry about that right now.  

Have a really good day!